MINERVA is the Roman Goddess of wisdom, war, medicine, and the female arts of spinning and weaving. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Goddess Athena, and as Athena was born from Zeus's forehead, so Minerva was born from the forehead of her father, Jupiter. Jupiter, his wife Juno, and Minerva form a trinity referred to as the Capitoline triad; a temple on the Capitoline Hill was built to honor them by the last King of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus. Another temple, the Delubrum Minervae, is now the site of the church Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Saint Mary over Minerva).

Minerva is often depicted in armor and holding a spear, as befits a Goddess of war. She also has the ability to throw Jupiter's thunderbolts. Her other attributes are evidenced by her many epithets, although it can be very difficult to determine which epithets were given to Minerva alone, and which were carried over to her from Athena.